


Fictober 2020

by Kaslyna



Category: Snowpiercer (TV 2020)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Arguments, Arson Mentions, Brief discussion of torture methods, Canon Adult/Teenage Relationship in the Background, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Grief, More Tags to be Added Every Day, Pregnancy, Sex Mentions, Smut, Sort Of, Violence Mentions, blind dates, crackfic, fictober20, it's just a mention of eric/lj but extremely in the background, the background underage is in chapter 27 if you wanna skip it, torture mention, what could possibly be considered attempted self harm but at the least is extreme recklessness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:41:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 11,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaslyna/pseuds/Kaslyna
Summary: 31 unconnected prompts for Fictober 2020. All for Snowpiercer, though with different relationships and friendships. Each new entry will be named for the pairing and rating, with the warnings for it, the prompt, and a brief summary in the notes.
Relationships: Andre Layton & Bess Till, Andre Layton & Zarah Ferami, Bennett Knox & Javier "Javi" de La Torre, Bess Till & Miss Audrey, Bess Till/Miss Audrey, Jinju Seong/Bess Till, Melanie Cavill & Andre Layton, Melanie Cavill & Javier "Javi" de La Torre, Melanie Cavill & Jinju Seong, Melanie Cavill & Miles and Miles, Melanie Cavill & Ruth Wardell, Melanie Cavill/Bennett Knox, Miss Audrey & Melanie Cavill, Miss Audrey/Zarah Ferami, Robert Folger/Lilah Folger, Zarah Ferami/Andre Layton
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23
Collections: Fictober20





	1. Three Engineers + Bennett/Melanie, Rated T

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: drinking, alcohol
> 
> The three engineers get a bit drunk. Blatant Bennett/Melanie.
> 
> Prompt: "no, come back!"

Melanie wasn’t sure whose bright idea it was to get drunk, except now the three of them were on the floor of her room. Somehow she’d ended up with her head in Bennett’s lap, his fingers absently stroking through her hair. One of her bare feet was pressed against Javi’s knee from where he sat at a distance from them. He was considerably more sober than the other two engineers. 

“Truth or dare?” Melanie asked in a loud tone of voice only drunk people could muster, her pointed gaze at Javi telling him the question was directed at him. 

“Truth,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. He was sure that any dare Melanie could come up with would be much worse. 

“What’s your favorite color?” she whispered seriously, foot poking him harder in emphasis. 

“Blue,” he replied, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” her eyes lit up mischievously. 

“Drink some water,” his voice was serious. 

Melanie frowned in mild annoyance, but extricated herself enough to complete the task, handing Bennett the half full glass as she returned to her previous position, smiling goofily up at him. 

“Truth or dare?” she asked Bennett, who smiled back as he set the glass down and his hands resumed their course through her hair. 

“Dare,” his grin broadened. 

“I dare you to kiss me,” she arched a brow in challenge. 

Bennett spent a moment deliberating before he pulled her up so she was sitting across his lap, and kissed her. His fingers tangled through her hair. Javi watched as the kiss lasted an uncomfortably long amount of time-but the final straw was the noise Melanie made when Bennett slid one of his hands down her body, and it then became clear that they had probably forgotten his presence entirely. 

“Ay dios mio,” he muttered, glancing away, “I’m going back to the helm now.”

Melanie broke the kiss to whine, “No, come back!”

“It’s fine, Mel,” he gave her a reassuring look that appeared to be more of a grimace because Bennett’s hand had moved to start tugging at her shirt, “Really. I’m considerably more sober than both of you combined, and someone has to. I’ve been away long enough.”

As soon as Javi left, Bennett reluctantly removed his hands from her. Javi’s words had crashed down on him and made him remember that they were _definitely_ too drunk right now. 

“Now, where were we?” she murmured, leaning in for a kiss he hated himself for having to evade. 

“We are way too drunk,” he explained. 

“Ben,” she huffed. 

“I’ll sleep here if you want me to, but I’m not going further than that,” his voice was firm but gentle, and he watched her deflate slightly in response to it. 

In the end, they wound up on the floor in a pile of blankets and pillows, tangled together half dressed. 

In the morning when they woke up, they’d remember almost everything that had happened, and apologize to Javi for making him see it. 


	2. Layton & Melanie, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: drinking, alcohol
> 
> Layton and Melanie bond a little after a hard day.
> 
> Prompt: “that’s the easy part”

There were days-bad days-in which Andre Layton was not entirely sure that the revolution had been worth it, because leading could be unimaginably difficult and even painful. It was on one of these days that Melanie had found him in the nightcar drinking, an unfocused stare directed at the curtains behind the bar. 

“Hi,” she started cautiously, stopping behind him. She’d been on her way uptrain after fixing something-in desperate need of a shower-but had seen him and wondered what had gone wrong enough to make him drink in the middle of the afternoon.

“Where’d you come from?” he asked without turning.

She snorted a little, “Engineering emergency in the subtrain under the chains. Unfortunately the subtrain is down at that end, so here we are.”

He turned then, blinking at the grime she was covered in and the wet patches on her engineering suit, “The hell?”

Melanie sighed, “Trust me, it looks worse than it actually is. Just a badly busted pipe. Ben’s still working on it with a few of the other engineers, but they’re almost done.”

Layton nodded, absorbing the information. Despite all the bad blood between them, he had no reason _not_ to trust Melanie’s statement. She would never lie about any serious damage to the train.

“You can join, if you promise not to drug me again,” he offered, taking another slow sip of his drink. He was not nearly drunk enough yet, he concluded.

“Cross my heart,” she replied, resting her elbows on the bar next to him. He watched her eyes flutter closed in exhaustion, wondering absently when the last time she’d slept was.

“When was the last time you slept?” he blurted out unbidden, and watched as her eyes opened again, staring hazily at him-an answer to the question in its own right.

“If we’re talking about more than three hours, then three nights ago I got six,” she murmured.

“And how many since then?” he raised his eyebrows. It wouldn’t do them any good if their head engineer collapsed on them.

“Maybe… four?” she grimaced.

“Total?”

The guilty look on her face told him enough before she even tried to justify herself, “Look, I was at the helm last night, so I only got an hour and a half, thanks to Ben insisting I take a break. The night before I was… otherwise occupied. Enough about me. What’s making you drink this early?”

Layton groaned, staring down at the drink in question, “Fight broke out in Ag-Sec. Attempted robbery.”

“Again?” Melanie exclaimed in disbelief, scrubbing her hands over her face, “Jesus. I thought that was done two revolutions ago when we took the train back.”

“Apparently not,” he sighed in frustration, “God. I knew leading wouldn’t be easy but I thought we could get past the harsh punishment part.”

She smiled tiredly, “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled bitterly, nodding in agreement, “Yeah, it is.”

“Look,” she started, “Dealing with petty complaints and arguments? That’s the easy part. Dealing with actual crimes? It’s _never_ easy, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“Is that how you live with yourself?” his question had no real bite to it.

“Yes,” her reply was equally as resigned.

There was a long silence after that, wherein Melanie ordered a drink, sipping it slower than he had. At some point she broke the silence to declare that she _really_ had to shower, and that he knew where to find her if he needed anything else. She patted him awkwardly on the back on her way out. Layton watched her go, hating that _this_ was where they both understood each other.

But then again, maybe it was better to not be alone in being haunted by the choices that they’d both had to make.


	3. Bennett/Melanie, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Bennett finds out when Melanie's birthday is.
> 
> Prompt: "you did this?"

“You’re not at the helm tonight,” Javi frowned at her when she came in to try to take the spot he was currently occupying.

“Yes I am?” Melanie questioned, brow furrowed in confusion.

“Well yes, _technically_ you’re supposed to be,” Javi continued, “But Bennett begged me to cover your shift, because he has a surprise for you. Don’t worry, he’ll cover me tomorrow.”

“Like hell he will,” she breathed, and then her voice became slightly louder, “I’ll take your shift tomorrow night.”

“Sure, whatever,” Javi turned back to face the window, “I really don’t care who does, as long as it’s not me. He’s in his room, by the way.”

Melanie debated getting redressed, before deciding she _really_ did not have the energy for that. She trudged down to second, glad that Bennett’s room wasn’t too far downtrain. She knocked and announced herself, and at his quiet “come in” she did so.

Her breath hitched a little as she took in his room. On the coffee table in front of his sofa was a small plate of sushi and a tiny cupcake with an unlit candle in it. Her eyes met his then as she asked, “What?”

“It’s not much,” he sounded somewhat nervous, “But I wanted to do something. Happy birthday, Mel.”

“You did this?” she asked, her brain still struggling to catch up.

“I did,” he confirmed, nodding a little, “Jinju and Javi helped, too.”

“Yeah, I heard from Javi,” Melanie started to struggle to blink back tears brought on by the kind gesture after such a particularly bad day, “I’ll take his shift tomorrow, by the way. Since it’s mine he’s covering.”

“Consider me taking it the second half of your gift,” Bennett insisted.

“Ben…” she protested weakly.

“Mel,” he replied, equally as stubborn, “Let’s not argue about this right now.”

“I didn’t realize that you even knew when my birthday was,” she admitted, sitting down slowly-still a bit dumbfounded by the situation.

“I’ve known for a while, actually,” he didn’t meet her eyes, choosing instead to pass her the plate of food, “I just also knew that if you didn’t tell us, you probably didn’t want us making a big deal out of it. But since we’re… close, I wanted to.”

“You’re making me look bad,” she complained.

He laughed softly, “It’s fine, Mel. Really.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Any time,” his reply was equally as quiet.

They ate in a companionable silence that they broke only occasionally. When they’d polished off the sushi, Bennett found a lighter for the candle-and at the look she gave him, he replied, “Don’t ask.”

“I won’t,” she chuckled a little as she mimed zipping her lips-which earned her a somewhat exasperated look in return.

“Make a wish,” he told her, and then added, “By the way, this is yours-there isn’t really enough to share.”

She blew out the candle, making her wish-even though it felt silly and childish in the world they now lived in. When she leaned back, Bennett was looking at her, a soft smile on his face. Melanie couldn’t help herself, taking his face in her hands and kissing him slowly and deeply. She let go eventually to eat the cupcake.

She barely registered the arm around her shoulders; it felt too normal to be noticed, even though it wasn’t something he’d done before. She sighed, leaning back into his touch when she’d finished, completely content.

For the first time in a long time, she felt at peace. It was only temporary, she knew-but with Bennett, she could always just be herself. It was freeing.


	4. Council Meeting, Rated T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: non-graphic mentions of torture methods
> 
> A meeting of Layton's council, wherein an argument ensues over what to do with criminals on the train.
> 
> Prompt: "that didn't stop you before"

Council meetings were never fun, but they were _always_ interesting, Melanie mused bitterly. They all either sat around the table in third used for these meetings or were pacing the room it was in. The issue of the day was about what to do with criminals-lockup just didn't have nearly enough space needed.

She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes in a futile attempt to ward off the inevitable headache forming at the ceaseless back and forth argument going on-mostly between Layton, Miss Audrey, and Ruth. Till, Jinju, and some of the others on the council-such as Melanie-knew better than to get involved. It didn’t make the shouting less annoying to listen to, though.

“We need to keep making examples when these things happen,” Ruth insisted, “It’s harsh, but it must be done.”

“We’re not taking any more arms,” Miss Audrey’s voice was firmer.

“Or putting people in drawers without their consent,” Layton’s voice sounded agitated, “There are cars that aren’t in use that can be turned into a temporary solution.”

“Melanie considered that before, you know,” Ruth rolled her eyes, exasperated.

“Melanie?” Layton turned to her, and the headache pulsed.

“It’s not an easy problem to solve,” she admitted, carefully, “The drawers were the best solution because it let us test our lifeboats. And Wilford’s order was to take arms. But if you think that there’s another viable solution, I can get someone to help you build it.”

“You don’t seriously agree with him, do you?” Ruth was also agitated now.

“I never wanted any of this, Ruth,” Melanie’s voice was small, quiet, “I agree that if there are other solutions we should take them.”

“That didn’t stop you before,” Miss Audrey pointed out, giving Melanie an assessing look.

“No,” Melanie agreed, “It didn’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t change and be better than the mistakes I’ve made. We still need to test the drawers, so we need to give that as an option-but it no longer has to be that or amputation.”

Miss Audrey nodded, absorbing her words. Melanie knew her well enough by now to know that the other woman was satisfied with her answer. 

“Okay,” Layton nodded, “Let’s take it to a vote then?”

In the end, they decided that corporal punishment would not be used-except in the cases of repeat violent offenders, and that along the same line, the drawers would only be used in the cases of people who consented or repeat violent offenders who might be useful.

It was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna say, I honestly wasn't sure about this chapter-but it was the best I could think of for the prompt.


	5. Till/Jinju, Rated G

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Till tries to talk to Jinju after a meeting.
> 
> Prompt: "unacceptable, try again"

Though they’d broken up on… well, okay terms, it was still difficult at times for Till to work with Jinju. Having your ex on the same council as you were on was not easy, she’d learned. Especially when you still didn’t entirely see eye to eye.

They’d both attempted to extend olive branches in an attempt to make those meetings more civil and less personal when they inevitably disagreed. Today’s meeting had been particularly nasty-the looting of Ag-Sec after the revolution was still a sore subject for Jinju. 

“Look Jinju, I’m sorry, but-” Till started, grabbing the other woman’s arm on her way out to force her to stop. 

Shaking her arm free Jinju shot her an unimpressed look, “Even with the supplies from Big Alice we’ll still need to ration for _at least_ a year to get back to pre revolution levels.”

Till’s voice was thoroughly chastised, “I am sorry, you know. I know these discussions are difficult for you.”

“Difficult,” Jinju snorted bitterly, “Now that’s the understatement of the century.”

Till huffed in frustration, “ _Jinju_. It isn’t personal. Whatever is going on between us, we _have_ to get along during these meetings.”

“Unacceptable, try again,” Jinju rolled her eyes, exasperated, “Look. I am _really_ not in the mood for this today, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be going. Too much to do to make sure our crops don’t fail, since we have less of them now.”

Till nodded in resignation, letting out a pained sigh as the other woman brushed past her. 

What would it take, she thought, to make things right between them again? Or at least right enough to not argue every single time they talked. 

Till feared it would be an impossible task.


	6. Layton & Till, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Layton helps Till take down a bad guy.
> 
> Prompt: "that was impressive"

Till had asked Layton to mentor her. During the murder investigation that had been the start of their friendship, his expertise had challenged her to do better, _be_ better. And since both leading the train _and_ being a homicide detective was logistically difficult-to say the least, Till had thought it prudent to have someone else who was up for the task-just in case. 

Sometimes, on a particularly tough case-in this instance, a man who had run off after being confronted about armed robbery-Layton would go with her as backup, even though it wasn’t a murder. Nevertheless, Till always appreciated the help. 

She spotted the man first, and jerked her head in his direction. Layton nodded in understanding, and the chase was on. The man ran, as they always did-Till and Layton in hot pursuit. It was Till who got to him first-finally tackling him to the ground.

“Don’t move, asshole,” she shouted as she held him down.

Layton caught up, breathing slightly winded as he said, “Damn, Bess. That was impressive.”

“Thanks,” Till grinned at him sincerely; it was always nice to know that the only trained detective on Snowpiercer thought highly of her abilities.

He nodded, “Let’s get him to the lockup. Good work brakeman. You’re a good detective.”

“You promoting me?” she asked, teasing-though there was a note of genuine, vulnerable hope underlying the question.

“Afraid so,” he replied sagely, “I’m not really sure you need my help anymore. Or that you ever did, honestly.”

“You’re a better partner than Osweiler,” she told him.

Layton snorted, “I have no doubt that _that’s_ true.”

“Thank you,” Till smiled at him a little.

“You’re welcome,” he responded, “Get him up.”

And they did. 

The walk to lockup was not very long.


	7. Layton & Zarah, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: pregnancy
> 
> Layton and Zarah argue after Zarah goes to an ultrasound appointment without him.
> 
> Prompt: "yes I did, what about it?"

They’d been fighting on and off for the past week, about this and that. It turned out that having a baby with your ex was not a fun experience. Especially when said ex both blamed you for the death of his lover and had become wildly overprotective, questioning every little thing. 

It was after a particularly nasty fight over what Zarah should and shouldn’t be eating that she stopped talking to Layton for a week-a week during which she had her twenty week ultrasound. Which led them to the present fight.

“You went without me?!” his tone was hurt and incredulous.

“Yes I did, what about it?” Zarah snapped, “God dammit Andre! I’m _having_ a baby, I’m not a baby myself. If you keep treating me like one _then maybe we’re really done_!”

Layton was silent then, a look on his face like he’d been slapped, before he replied quietly, “We might not be on good terms, Zarah, but I just want what’s best for you and the baby.”

She snorted, “Then start by letting me make my own decisions, based on what my _doctor_ has recommended.”

“Okay,” he nodded, “I’ll try harder. But don’t leave me out f stuff like this again, please?”

Zarah deflated a little; she was never able to stay mad at him for long, “I won’t. I did get you an extra photo, you know. And I didn’t ask what the gender was, because you weren’t there, and also who knows what our kid will decide when they-”

Layton cut her off by hugging her, murmuring into her hair after a minute passed and she relaxed, “I don’t care about the baby’s gender, now or in a few years from now. I just don’t wanna miss anything about them.”

Zarah nodded, and they pulled away from each other, “You won’t. Andre… if we can figure this out, I’ll move in with you so we can coparent better, if you want. At least for the first few years when the kid will hit more milestones.”

His smile was tight and sad, “I think we might need a bigger cabin for the three of us. But… I’d like that. Now, give me that photo you promised. I wanna see how our constellation is doing.”

Zarah laughed at the nickname, and went to go find the photo.


	8. Melanie & Miss Audrey, Rated T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: drinking, alcohol
> 
> Melanie and Miss Audrey get drunk and talk.
> 
> Prompt: "I'm not doing that again"

“I’m not doing that again,” Melanie groaned, sliding back down the wall of the nightcar. Next to her, Miss Audrey laughed.

It had been a hard day and a rough session. The nightcar was mostly empty, Melanie wasn’t at the helm that night, and they’d both decided a few drinks were in order. And now here they were-Melanie discovering she was way too drunk by the wave of dizziness that had slammed into her when she’d tried to get up to make her way back to her room in the engine. 

“And here I was thinking you were _so_ tough,” Audrey teased, “You certainly acted like it when you were leading this train.”

Melanie stuck her tongue out at her, “I am! You just don’t know me well enough.”

“Oh yeah?” Audrey winged an eyebrow skeptically.

“Yeah,” Melanie nodded seriously, “Just ask Javi.”

Audrey laughed, “You know, I’m not sure I’ve actually ever _met_ him before.”

“Well you can,” Melanie told her, then grinned playfully as an idea came to her, “If you escort me back to the engine to make sure that no one takes advantage of their despised former leader’s inebriated state.”

“You’re not despised, Melanie,” Audrey’s voice was soft and serious.

“Most people would say otherwise,” Melanie murmured, but there was no true argument that she tried to make.

After a beat Audrey stood, smiling and extending a hand, “Come on then.”

Melanie let herself be pulled up. Audrey dragged her to the stairs, then let go of her. Melanie shuffled behind her the entire way to the engine.

As strange as it sometimes was to realize that she could actually consider the other woman a friend now, Melanie kind of liked it.


	9. Melanie & Layton, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Layton and Melanie discuss train repairs.
> 
> Prompt: "will you look at this?"

“How’s it going?” Layton asked as he climbed down into the subtrain, where Melanie was hard at work with a few other engineers to replace a broken part.

“Pretty good,” Melanie replied, standing up to turn and acknowledge him, “Will you look at this? I have a quick question for you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Layton’s brow furrowed a little in confusion, “Not sure how I can help you though-you’re kinda the expert around here.”

She smirked playfully at that, “Look. We don’t technically _have_ to replace this part now, but it’s going to become a problem eventually.”

“How soon?” Layton asked.

“Dunno,” Melanie shrugged, “Could be a few weeks or a few years.”

“So what’s the catch?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The catch,” she gestured towards the part in question, “Is that it’s getting to be on its last legs, and when it goes out, it could go out with a bang depending on the weather. If we hit track turbulence at the same time…”

“Okay,” Layton sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face, “How long will it take to replace it, and what will the cost be?”

She explained, and they went back and forth for a bit. Eventually Layton decided to err on the side of caution, letting her fix it. He usually deferred to Melanie on things related to the upkeep of the train-she knew it best, after all.

Then, he left to let her continue fixing the train, trusting her enough with their lives to let her be.


	10. Bess Till & Miss Audrey + Bess Till/Miss Audrey, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: sex mention
> 
> Miss Audrey and Till discuss Till and Jinju's breakup.
> 
> Prompt: "all I ever wanted"

“God,” Till groaned, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall in frustration, “I hate this shit.”

“I know,” Miss Audrey soothed, reaching out to take the other woman’s hand.

“I don’t know what I have to do to make her stop hating me,” Till sighed.

“She’ll come around,” Audrey assured her.

Till smiled wryly, “No offense, Audrey, but you don’t really _know_ Jinju. She’s very stubborn and pragmatic when she wants to be. Evidently.”

“I could do a joint session,” Audrey offered.

Till’s smile softened, “I appreciate it. God. All I ever wanted was her, you know? The first time I met her, I just _knew_ that she was the one for me.”

“If you can’t work it out, or you don’t want to… you’ll find love again,” Miss Audrey insisted gently, “And you know what they say.”

“Oh? What _do_ they say?” Till’s look turned mildly flirtatious.

“That sometimes,” Miss Audrey whispered, leaning closer, “The best way to get over somebody, is by getting under… someone… else…”

Her voice had dropped to a breathy murmur towards the end, and as she finished, she leaned in to close the gap in a soft, short kiss.

“Oh,” Till breathed.

Audrey giggled a little, “If you want to take me up on that offer… you know where to find me. And don’t worry-I’m not looking for a wife right now, either. But… that doesn’t mean we can’t have a good time together.”

With that, she stood, and Till bit her lip and watched her hips as she slowly made her way to the bar, contemplating her offer.


	11. Three Engineers, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Bennett, Javi, and Melanie have a small argument after a disagreement once again led to some damage to the train.
> 
> Prompt: "I told you so"

“Reduce speed 9%,” Melanie reluctantly relented.

“I told you so,” Javi growled in frustration, “But neither of you ever listen to me, do you?”

“It’s a rough stretch of track, Javi,” Bennett butted in, “It’s precarious and mistakes are easily made.”

“Which is why,” Javi huffed, “We _need_ to be smart, and err on the side of caution.”

“Javi,” Melanie’s tone was clipped, “You _know_ we can’t afford to reduce power in this section. Not if we can avoid it-and we will _always_ do everything in our power to avoid it. Look. Nothing was seriously damaged, we didn’t lose any lives today.”

Javi rolled his eyes, grumbling, “You guys should listen to me more often, you know.”

“Well, it’s done now,” Bennett finally said, “So let’s just move on.”

They all mumbled various agreements, and went back to working in near total silence.


	12. Bennett/Melanie, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: drinking, what could possibly be considered attempted self harm but is at the very least extreme recklessness
> 
> On Allie's eighth birthday during their first year on Snowpiercer, Bennett finds Melanie drunk and hurting.
> 
> Prompt: "watch me"

Allie’s eighth birthday was roughly six months after departure, and Melanie had taken the day off, claiming she was too sick. She had had several glasses of the whiskey they kept in the engine, and if Bennett and Javi had noticed her excessive day drinking, they didn’t mention it. At the end of the day-after Javi had gone home-Bennett decided to check on her, and found her so drunk he was debating if he should take her to the infirmary.

“Mel, get down from there,” his voice was strained as he watched her hang upside down listlessly from the top bunk by her legs, body swaying ominously.

“Why?” she asked petulantly.

“Because it’s dangerous,” he was becoming exasperated.

She gave him a childishly playful look, “Watch me.”

Bennett yelped in horror as she let go, landing ungracefully on the floor. She managed not to hit her head too hard, but he still swore as he rushed to her.

“Dammit Mel,” he groaned, “That’s it. I’m taking you to Dr. Pelton, right now.”

He grabbed her by her arm and lifted her up when she didn’t reply. 

She gave him an angry look, “Stop treating me like a child, Ben. Do you know what day it is? Allie would have been eight today.”

That stopped him in his tracks, “Mel-”

“Don’t,” Melanie told him darkly as she shrugged him off, “Just don’t, Ben.”

He nodded, defeated, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Yeah,” she let out a hollow, bitter sound laugh, “Me too.”

He spent the night alternating between the helm and the bunkroom reassuring himself that she was still breathing. And in the morning, he was the one to bring her to the doctor to assess that she hadn’t sustained any damage during her little stunt the night before.

They never mentioned that night again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long-bad depressive episode starting plus scrambling to force myself to write an essay is a bitch of a combination. Hopefully delays won't happen again!


	13. Bennett/Melanie, Rated M

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: sex, smut
> 
> Bennett and Melanie makeup sex.
> 
> Prompt: "I missed this"

When Melanie had imagined it-and she _had_ imagined it-she hadn’t imagined them being quite this… _soft_ , the first time after their fight. But it was; the way Bennett mapped the familiar dips and curves of her body-the way she did the same to him-was undeniably tender. The affection was almost overwhelming in its intensity. 

His body over hers, inside of hers-comforting in its familiarity. There was comfort, too, in the way they knew the meaning of every sound made-of all the signals their bodies gave. Of the way they had laughed when their heads knocked together in their eagerness earlier-that laughter quickly cut off into breathless moans as they had finally joined.

And after, there was comfort in the familiarity of this, too; her head on his chest, his hands running through her hair and down her back. Melanie closed her eyes and basked in the feeling, sighing contentedly. She was thoroughly sated, happy and at peace in a way she hadn’t known in so long- _too_ long.

“I missed this,” she admitted into the silence, whispering as if afraid someone might overhear.

“Me too,” he replied. She sighed as he leaned to press a kiss to the top of her hair.

“What happens now?” she murmured.

“Whatever we want to happen,” Bennett responded after a moment of contemplation.

“And what do you want, Ben?” she asked, refusing to let him get away with it that easily.

“To be with you, however you want me to be,” he told her. 

Melanie propped herself up to look into his eyes and gauge his seriousness then, reading his expression for anything uncertain. Finding none, she exhaled and relaxed, nodding a little as she settled back down on his chest.

“Me too,” she echoed, “And I want you just like this.”

No words were spoken after that. They weren’t necessary.


	14. Melanie & Ruth, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> After Melanie fixes a problem in the hospitality office, she tries-and fails-to get Ruth to talk to her.
> 
> Prompt: "you better leave now"

It was rare for there to be an engineering emergency in the hospitality office, but when the PA system went down, Melanie volunteered before Bennett and Javi could even process the phone call they’d received from Ruth reporting the problem. They both shot her a concerned look but said nothing; they knew she still harbored a lot of guilt about what had happened between her and Ruth, and that she wanted to fix things-if at all possible.

Ruth scowled when Melanie came in, saying nothing. Melanie worked in the awkward, angry silence between them-doing her best to ignore the palpable tension. When she finished she stood, turning and exhaling shakily.

“Should be all good now,” Melanie informed her, a nervous smile on her face, “Won’t know until you test it, though.”

Ruth nodded sharply, “I will. After you leave.”

“Ruth-”

“Don’t,” Ruth cut her off.

Melanie nodded now, deflating, “What will it take, Ruth?”

After a long moment of silence Ruth finally replied in a clipped tone, “You better leave now.”

Melanie relented after a minute, “Fine. See you around, then.”

“Unfortunately,” Ruth muttered under her breath, huffing and rolling her eyes as she once again slammed the door shut behind Melanie.

Melanie stood with her back to it for a long moment, closing her eyes in a failing attempt to hold back tears. Opening them, she looked at the ceiling and blinked rapidly as she tried to compose herself-coming back to the engine crying was _not_ an option.

Finally she exhaled a noise that was almost a sob. Nodding again to herself, she pushed off the door and left. No matter what it took, she vowed, she _would_ find a way to get Ruth to forgive her. Even if the other woman couldn’t ever be her friend again.

She _had_ to.


	15. Melanie & Jinju, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Jinju tries to get Melanie to try meditation with her.
> 
> Prompt: "not interested, thank you"

“Mel,” Jinju implored her, exasperated.

“Not interested, thank you,” Melanie replied, ignoring her as she sorted through the paperwork on her desk.

“It’s just _one_ hour of your life,” Jinju huffed, “Come on. You owe me one.”

“No offense,” Melanie sighed as she turned to face the other woman, “But meditation is _really_ not my thing. Especially in a class.”

Jinju shot her an unimpressed look, “One. Hour.”

“Fine,” Melanie threw up her hands and rolled her eyes, “Fine. I’ll join you tomorrow.”

Jinju grinned, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Melanie grumbled as she turned back to her task.

She was sure she’d regret it-but Jinju was one of her closest friends, and she’d _try_ it for her, at least.


	16. Bennett/Melanie, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: angst, arguments
> 
> Bennett and Melanie fight post 1.10.
> 
> Prompt: "I never wanted anything else"

It turned out that working with the person you were… sleeping with? In a casual, undefined relationship with? after you’d fought (or maybe, in some way, broken up-the lines between them had always been too blurred to make such distinctions) over something so _big_ that you could barely speak to them was awkward-to say the least. And sometimes, it was downright _infuriating_.

Javi had stormed out, taking Miles with him as he swore under his breath. Now Melanie and Bennett were staring at each other. Every little disagreement became an actual argument these days. The look Bennett was giving her was both weary and defeated.

“Mel,” he sighed, sounding resigned, “It’s an unreasonably reckless plan.”

“That’s never stopped you from supporting them before,” she pointed out, hating how sullen she sounded. 

Bennett shook his head and sat back down, glancing back up at her before he continued in a gentler tone, “Mel… this isn’t personal.”

Melanie deflated a little at the statement, but was still unwilling to back down, “Then support me. Because otherwise, it sure as hell _feels_ personal.”

He nodded, swallowing, “I didn’t mean to hurt you. You _have_ to know that.”

“I do,” she sounded exhausted, “You put the train first. But that doesn’t mean that I have to forgive you for making that decision without me.”

“I know,” he replied quietly.

There was a long, awkward silence after that. Bennett wasn’t sure how she’d react to yet another apology, and Melanie was too stubborn to admit that all the fight had left her by that point. 

“I know you think this is stupid,” she broke the silence, quickly holding up a hand to stop his inevitable protest, “But Ben, it’s also our best option. _You_ of all people should understand that. I just need you to be on my side, okay? Because it really feels like you aren’t these days, and I don’t think we can keep working together if every time a disagreement comes up, Javi has to take Miles elsewhere so he doesn’t have to hear it.”

“Of course I’m on your side,” he sounded hurt now, “I am _always_ on your side, Mel. I should have consulted you. But you were the one who taught me that the train comes first.”

“I never wanted anything else,” she laughed bitterly, “It was the _only_ way to keep all of us alive.”

“Until it involved Wilford,” he stated the obvious.

Melanie nodded now, “Until it involved him.”

“Yeah,” Bennett sighed, “So. If you think that we’re done yelling at each other, we should probably find Javi and beg his forgiveness before we sort this out.”

“You’re right,” she mumbled, burying her head in her hands, “God. That was _highly_ unprofessional.”

“Never stopped you before,” he pointed out, but his tone was more teasing than hers had been earlier.

She removed her hands and smirked at him, “But at least we had _fun_ those other times.”

“Touché,” he conceded, “I’ll go find Javi.”

“Sure,” she agreed.

“You have the train,” he told her.

Melanie nodded again, “I have the train.”


	17. Bennett/Melanie, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Bennett has to try to wake Melanie up one morning.
> 
> Prompt: "give me a minute or an hour"

The thing about Melanie was that she stubbornly refused to sleep-and yet, when she did, she stubbornly refused to wake up. Bennett had discovered this contradiction early on, finding it amusing and endearing. Intriguing even, though he supposed it made sense-she slept so little that when she _finally_ allowed herself to get a decent night’s sleep, her body crashed. He was always loath to wake her, but he knew she’d be pissed off if he didn’t, and that their duties to the train came first-even if all he wanted was to let her keep sleeping until she was ready to get up on her own. 

“Mel,” he murmured, tracing a finger up and down her spine as gently as possible. She twitched in response but did not wake. 

She was on her stomach next to him, pressed against his side but not on top of him. He used this to his advantage, brushing her hair back from her neck so that he could place a kiss on her nape-a spot he knew was particularly sensitive. 

“Ben,” she whined as she finally stirred, “Not fair.”

“If it were up to me I’d let you keep sleeping,” Bennett’s voice was affectionate and soft, “But it’s _slightly_ after 5:30 and I’d rather not die today.”

She snorted, and then groaned as she buried her face farther into the pillow. He ran his hand up and down her spine in an effort to soothe her. 

“Give me a minute or an hour,” she grumbled, voice muffled. 

“Can’t do that,” he said apologetically, tugging at her until she rolled on her back-even closer to him now. 

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him, “You shouldn’t listen to me, you know.”

Bennett chuckled, “You say that _now_ , but we both know that if I’d let you sleep until you were ready to get up you’d stick my head out of a port.”

Melanie’s face sobered, “I would never. I need you.”

He raised his eyebrows at that, “Come on, Mel.”

She huffed, blowing hair out of her face in the process, “Fine.”

He leaned down to kiss her slowly first, pulling away before she could deepen it to kiss her forehead. She sighed, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, she gave him a tired smile. 

“I’m proud of you, you know,” he told her, giving her vulnerability in turn. 

“Okay,” Melanie pushed him off of her, “If you don’t shut up, _neither_ of us will leave this bed for a while, and then I might _actually_ have to strangle you for making me late.”

Bennett chuckled again as she climbed out of bed and began trying to find her clothes. She leaned down to kiss him again once she was finally dressed, smiling sweetly at him. 

“Good luck,” he breathed, inches from her mouth. 

Melanie snorted again, “Thanks. I’ll need it.”

He waited until she’d left to get ready for the day himself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am Once Again asking you to forgive me for being late, it's midterms time


	18. Miss Audrey/Zarah + Layton & Zarah, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: alcohol mention, pregnancy
> 
> Layton observes the way Zarah interacts with Miss Audrey-and encourages her to make a move.
> 
> Prompt: "you don't see it?"

Layton had agreed to pick Zarah up after her shift in the nightcar to take her for an ultrasound. He found her at the bar, speaking to Miss Audrey as she served drinks to patrons. 

He watched them for a moment, assessing. They were comfortable with each other in a way that made him think that maybe there was-or could be, at the least-more than just friendship there. As far as he was concerned that was just fine; relieving, in fact, to know that Zarah had somebody now that they could barely stand each other in terms of the baby. 

He still cared for her; he _always_ would-but it was different now. On the rare days that they got along, they were good friends. Otherwise, they practically hated each other. 

“Andre,” Zarah greeted him as he came to join her at the bar. 

“Can I make you a drink?” Audrey turned to smirk at Zarah, and he was acutely aware that he had interrupted… _something_. He just wasn’t sure _what_. 

“Nah, I’m good,” he glanced between them in confusion, “Thanks though.”

“Good answer,” Zarah replied, shooting Audrey a mildly annoyed look. 

“Zarah is mad that she can’t have alcohol for another twenty odd weeks,” Audrey finally explained, putting him out of his misery. 

“Then I won’t drink too,” he shrugged, “In solidarity.”

Audrey grinned, “Good answer. See, Zarah? I told you he wouldn’t fall for it.”

“Whatever,” Zarah huffed and rolled her eyes, “Can we go now?”

They said their goodbyes and left. They were halfway to the infirmary already when Layton mustered the courage to broach the topic that had been on his mind. 

“You and Miss Audrey…” he started. 

“Are just friends,” she finished. 

“Come on,” he snorted, “You don’t see it? Zarah, I haven’t seen you as comfortable as you are around her since before the freeze. It’s okay, you know. I’m not gonna be upset.”

“Oh, because I needed your approval,” she grumbled, “Drop it, Andre.”

“Look,” he breathed, putting his hands up placatingly, “All I’m saying is, if she makes you happy, then go for it. She looks at you the same way. The only people you’re fooling is yourselves.”

Zarah sighed and rolled her eyes. They’d finally made it to the infirmary-where Layton _finally_ dropped the subject. 

She couldn’t help but continue thinking about it though. 

Maybe he _was_ onto something. 


	19. Till/Jinju, Rated M

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mild sex, smut
> 
> Till breaks off the breakup sex.
> 
> Prompt: "I can't do this anymore"

It had started as stress relief, more than anything else. They were broken up-but the sex had always been good, so why couldn’t they continue that at least?

This was a thought Till had, fleetingly, as she finished going down on Jinju. It was far from the first time they’d had breakup sex, but it was the first time she’d thought that _maybe_ it wasn’t such a good idea. Even if the sex was really good. 

She laid her head on Jinju’s stomach, closing her eyes and breathing her in as Jinju came back to herself. Her hand stroked Till’s hair and Till involuntarily tensed. 

“What’s wrong?” Jinju asked. As always, she knew Till too damn well. 

“I can’t do this anymore,” Till blurted out. The awkward silence was deafening, and Till winced-bracing herself. She was pretty sure there wasn’t a more tactless way than telling the person you’d just eaten out that you wanted to stop having sex. Especially because she was _also_ butt ass naked and a hasty retreat was out of the question. 

“Well, okay then,” Jinju replied blankly, brain still scrambling to catch up after being forcefully snapped from the afterglow. 

“Jinju…” Till pleaded. 

“No, it’s fine,” Jinju shook her head, refusing to meet Till’s eyes as she pushed her off of her, “You’re probably right. We should stop.”

“ _Jinju_ …” Till tried again, desperate and confused by her conflicting emotions. At the end of it all, she still loved the other woman; that fact was undeniable. 

“You’ve made yourself perfectly clear, Till,” Jinju’s voice was ice cold, “I think you should leave. Now.”

If Till thought sleeping with her ex was a low, she’d been wrong- _nothing_ had prepared her for the awkwardness and humiliation of frantically redressing to do the walk of shame from a place she’d once tried to make her home. _Especially_ with the death stare Jinju gave her as she chipped her out. 

After she exited, she leaned against the door and buried her face in her hands, heaving a sigh and swearing loudly, “ _Fuck_!”

The icing on the shit cake was the weird look she got from some random passerby whose name she didn’t know. Groaning, Till shook her head, and meekly made her way back to her quarters in third. 


	20. Bennett/Melanie, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Post 1.10 fight.
> 
> Prompt: "did I ask?"

“Mel…” Bennett started. 

“Don’t,” she warned him. 

“I just think that-”

“Did I ask?” she abruptly cut him off. 

He shook his head and sighed. These days, he couldn’t win with Melanie. He often wondered if it hurt her as much as it hurt him. But their fights about how to run the train-those were somehow worse, because it just made it more blatant that they were no longer a team. 

The road to hell was paved with good intentions, he thought bitterly every time he’d replayed that day. 

He’d replayed it a lot. 


	21. Melanie & Ruth, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Melanie helps Ruth with a problem. Ruth isn't ready to forgive her yet.
> 
> Prompt: "this, this makes it all worth it"

“This, this makes it all worth it,” Ruth snapped sarcastically.

“For fuck’s sake,” Melanie snapped back, “It’s not Layton’s fault.”

The other woman snorted in disbelief, “His rebellion led to this anarchy. We had order, when you were in charge-and when Wilford was.”

“Listen to me,” Melanie got up from where she’d been fixing something in the trashed hospitality office to stand in front of Ruth, “The _only_ person besides me on this train who has the ability to lead and is driven by keeping us all alive is Layton. Most people have one or the other.”

Ruth rolled her eyes, “Just fix this.”

Melanie deflated a little as she realized that the other woman was shaken, and nodded reassuringly, “I will, okay? If you want to go somewhere else, the engine is safe. I trust you.”

Ruth nodded shortly, “I think I will then.”

Melanie smiled tightly, “This won’t last forever.”

“I sure hope not,” the other woman muttered, exhaling shakily.

Ruth left, and Melanie went back to the task at hand. It turned out that even though Ruth had done the right thing in the end, that wasn’t _quite_ enough for some people-and those people had decided to send a message to her. Melanie knew the feeling well, and it was why she’d volunteered for the job.

She just hoped that she never had to do it again.


	22. Bennett/Melanie, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Bennett and Melanie argue over who should do something dangerous.
> 
> Prompt: "and neither should you"

“It’s my _job_ ,” Melanie protested. Bennett had stopped her with a hand on her arm before she’d gone on top of the train for the second time since departure. She knew he was scared-especially after the last time-but _someone_ had to, and at least she had experience.

“Mel, I can’t-” he started. She relaxed a little; as always, he knew it had to be done. He just didn’t want it to be her.

“I know,” she told him, “But Ben, I’ve done this before.”

“Let me go,” he pleaded, “Please. You shouldn’t have to go on top of the train.”

“And neither should you,” Melanie’s voice was firm but gentle, and she saw the way Bennett’s face changed. 

“Mel…” he breathed.

She glanced around for a moment before pressing a gloved hand to Bennett’s cheek. He leaned into the contact for a moment, turning to kiss her palm. He sighed a little when she let go.

“I’ll come back,” she promised, giving him a small, soft smile again, “I did the last time, didn’t I?”

He shook his head in exasperation and relented, “Come back in one piece.”

Melanie smirked, “ _That_ I can't promise.”

She kissed his cheek before she left, and Bennett was once again forced to watch her go outside-completely alone.


	23. Till/Jinju + Till & Roche, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Roche has enough, and decides to make Till and Jinju spend time together after their breakup.
> 
> Prompt: "do we have to?"

“Okay, Roche, what’s the-” Till started, then stopped as she entered the bowling alley, brow furrowing in confusion, “There _is_ no emergency, is there?”

“Depends how you define emergency,” he gave her a look.

Till sighed, “Aren’t there more important things that need to be done?”

“They can wait,” he replied.

“Hi,” Jinju gave an awkward wave from where she stood behind Roche.

“Are you serious right now?” Till snapped at Roche.

“Completely,” his voice was cheerful, “The two of you are going to spend some quality time together, because quite frankly? I am _thisclose_ to firing you for spending most of your shifts moping.”

“You wouldn’t,” Till narrowed her eyes.

“Do you want to find out?” Roche raised his eyebrows.

“How’d you even get her to agree to this, anyways?” Till asked.

“Well,” Roche said, “Ask her yourself. While you spend some quality time together.”

Till groaned, “Do we have to?”

“Yep,” Roche nodded sagely, clapping a hand on Till’s shoulder as he made to leave, “See you in four hours for your shift.”

With that, he was gone. Till and Jinju were alone now, staring at each other awkwardly-as if they’d never met before. Till felt a stab of longing at the thought.

“Well,” Jinju broke the silence.

“Well,” Till agreed, sighing.

“Do you want to try this, or do you want to find somewhere else?” Jinju asked, giving Till an out.

“What the hell?” Till murmured, shaking her head, “Let’s just go with it.”

Jinju nodded. They started a game, talking occasionally. Jinju told her what Roche had done to convince her; Till told her a bit about what had gone on recently.

As awkward as it still was, it was also _nice_. Till could admit that to herself.


	24. Bennett/Melanie, Rated M

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: sex mention, smut
> 
> Melanie and Bennett share a moment after something goes wrong-again.
> 
> Prompt: "are you kidding me?"

“Are you kidding me?” Melanie groaned, burying her face in her hands as she stopped in her tracks. Her breathing was shaky, adrenaline and panic coursing through her veins.

Bennett and Javi shared a look. They’d just informed her of a minor issue that had led to a significant depletion of their battery banks. 

“Mel…” Bennett started.

Melanie shook her head, taking a deep breath as she looked at them again, “I can’t deal with this right now, okay? I’ve spent _all_ day putting out fires and I still have another three hours of doing that. Just… do whatever you think is best. I trust you. As long as it doesn’t kill anybody, I don’t care.”

They stared at her in the wake of her outburst. Once Melanie was satisfied they’d drop it, she sighed, and left. It was back to her hospitality duties for her, while Bennett and Javi discussed possible options-choosing a less dire one, so that they could discuss a long term course of action when Melanie was able to deal with it.

Bennett wasn’t entirely surprised when Melanie turned up at his door hours later. He’d seen her like that only a handful of times-and she'd always eventually turned to him, every time. The last time had gone further than it had before; the bees had died, and Melanie had all but lost it. He didn’t expect it to go that way tonight, but he’d be there for her-however she needed him to be.

And yet-as soon as the door closed behind them, he was pressed up against it. Melanie kissed him-hard and desperate-and he responded with enthusiasm. It didn’t take long at all for clothes to be shed-and before either of their brains could really catch up, she was on top of him in his bed. Her pace was rough and fast; Bennett was all too happy to let her take the lead. She leaned down to kiss him, and he relished the way it brought her bare skin flush against his. He did his best to catalogue every sensation-right down to the tickle of her long hair where it brushed his face as they kissed. When she pulled back, he tucked it behind her ears. She smiled sweetly at him, and her touch was almost tender as she braced her hands on his chest. She slowed, gentler now. 

After they'd finished, she lay curled against his side. He touched her back, her hair; anywhere and everywhere that he could reach. She traced absent patterns on his chest, staring at her hand as she did so-mesmerized. She moved to kiss him softly on the shoulder.

“Mel,” he murmured, voice still hoarse.

“Shh,” she admonished into his skin, “I don’t want to think right now, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed, then after a beat added, “What _do_ you want, then?”

“I just want to feel,” she answered after a moment, “Being around you is the only way I'm ever at peace these days, Ben.”

He didn’t know how to reply to that, so he held her tighter to him as he considered. Finally, Bennett decided on, “You always know where to find me if you need to.”

Melanie nodded, “Thank you.”

“I’m not doing you a service,” he laughed a little, “I’m here because I want to be, too.”

She propped herself up to read his face, nodding again as she took in his words and the expression she found there, “Okay.”

Then she leaned in to kiss him, and no words were spoken for a long time after that.


	25. Melanie & Miles, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: grief
> 
> Melanie and Miles bond as she teaches him some things.
> 
> Prompt: "sometimes you can even see"

As much of a learning curve as it was, Melanie genuinely enjoyed teaching Miles. The boy was smart and adaptable-two qualities well suited to an engineer. He asked a lot of questions and was perhaps too observant, but he was a good kid. 

“Sometimes you can even see,” she started, pointing out the window, gesturing at the frozen city ahead of them, “And imagine, what life must have been like back then.”

“Do you imagine it?” he asked her.

She nodded after a moment of hesitation, “Occasionally. I used to, a lot.”

“What changed?” he asked.

Melanie swallowed; _everything_ , she thought but didn’t say. Instead, she answered-still honestly, “It became too painful. Why focus on the past when we have to focus on the present to make sure that we can still have a future?”

Miles absorbed that for a long time as they lapsed into silence. She watched him as he continued staring at the desolate landscape ahead of them; the endless expanse of white that always seemed to go on forever. Ceaseless.

“I think about it, a lot,” he said after a while, “I don’t really remember my mom’s face anymore. My birth mom, I mean.”

Her heart clenched in her chest with guilt, “I’m sure she loved you a lot, Miles.”

“Me too,” he replied.

They lapsed into silence once more-both reflecting on the people they’d lost. Javi and Bennett, sitting at their stations, said nothing-not wanting to intrude.

It was the most privacy anyone could ever hope for, in such close quarters.


	26. Three Engineers & Miles + Bennett/Melanie, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Javi really wished Bennett and Melanie could clue their fellow engineers in sometimes.
> 
> Prompt: "how about you trust me for once?"

“Babe?” Bennett muttered absently, eyes glued to his screen.

“Yeah?” Melanie answered. Javi’s eyes darted between them, wondering if he was hallucinating. A quick look at Miles-who was looking at them in confusion-told them that whatever was happening was _very_ real.

“Come look at this for a second,” Bennett asked.

“Sure,” Melanie replied, walking towards him. Javi’s eyes met Miles’ as they watched the odd scene play out in front of them.

Bennett and Melanie-oblivious to the fact that they were being studied like zoo animals-talked in hushed murmurs while the other two engineers watched and debated who would butt in to ask them what the _hell_ was going on.

Miles finally bit the bullet, “What are you looking at?”

Melanie startled a bit, turning to him and frowning slightly, “It’s complicated.”

“Mel?” Javi questioned, raising his eyebrows-as if _daring_ her to ignore him.

She blew hair out of her face, “It’s not a big deal. Promise.”

“How about you trust me for once?” Javi snapped, frustrated; Bennett and Melanie had a terrible habit of getting so lost in their own world that they forgot they worked with other people, too.

“Javi,” Melanie breathed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Of course I trust you.”

“Then tell me,” he challenged. Melanie looked at Bennett. The silent conversation they had was short-nevertheless, it irritated Javi. He mouthed ‘oblivious’ to Miles, who smiled at him in understanding. It was nice to have a new face in the engine, he’d decided shortly after Bennett and Melanie had sorted their shit out. There was solidarity with Miles in being left out of the loop just as often.

Melanie sighed, “Alright.”

It was, Javi realized, truly no big deal.But that didn’t make it any less _infuriating_ for them to leave their other two coworkers in the dark.


	27. The Folgers, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mentions of arson, mentions of violence, mentions of canon adult/teenage relationships (in the background)
> 
> Lilah and Robert are not pleased with LJ's antics.
> 
> Prompt: "give me that"

From the moment she’d been born-three weeks early, redfaced and screaming, and _always_ prone to colic from day one-LJ had been a handful. It’d taken years for Lilah and Robert to realize just _how much_ of a handful she was, but they had accepted her entirely nevertheless when they inevitably understood. They'd looked the other way at some of her worst behavior; they'd even let her have a relationship with her much older bodyguard. After all, who were they to deny their daughter happiness after the end of the world? The rules of the old world didn’t matter, they told themselves. It didn’t matter that that excuse had never sounded convincing in their heads.

“Give me that,” Lilah huffed, irritated. It’d been a long day, and LJ had _not_ let up. 

Her daughter pouted, clinging even harder to the lighter in her hand, “But it was a gift, mom.”

“From who?” Lilah questioned, her gaze steely.

LJ rolled her eyes, “Eric. Duh.”

“LJ, sweetie…” Robert piped up, “There’s a time and a place for black market gifts. Using them to light a tablecloth on fire because you’re bored and don’t like dinner is neither the time nor the place.”

LJ glared at him, “I just wanted to see what would happen. Watching Ruth flip her shit was pretty funny, you have to admit.”

Robert and Lilah exchanged a glance. Lilah was the one to speak next, “While that _might_ be true, that doesn’t make it appropriate.”

LJ sulked, “Fine.”

She handed the lighter over. Her parents exchanged another glance at how quickly she’d relented. LJ smirked when they turned away from her-no longer paying attention. It was too common an occurrence-especially these days. 

Little did they know-it was not the _only_ lighter Eric had given her. But _that_ -that was her little secret.

She exchanged a look with the man in question, who gave her a barely perceptible smile back.

LJ liked secrets, she decided happily as she leaned back on the sofa to stare at the ceiling and blew hair out of her face.


	28. Bennett/Melanie, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Melanie has a breakdown.
> 
> Prompt: "do I have to do everything here?"

Melanie was frantically pacing around her room, doing her best to stave off the rising panic. They’d come so close- _too_ close-to annihilation yet again, and of course, first was more concerned about the change in meal plan that was necessary to compensate for the loss of a crop. When she’d _finally_ returned to the engine, Bennett and Javi had informed her of _another_ issue that had resulted from the original issue that had caused the crop failure-they’d taken a massive blow to their battery banks. Something inside of her had finally snapped, and now she was pacing around her room like a caged animal. It would be embarrassing if she could care anymore.

“Mel?” she whipped her head around at the knock on the door, debating. She knew that if she said nothing or told Bennett to go away, he would-no questions asked, never to be brought up again. 

However, she found she didn’t _want_ him to go away. In fact, she wanted him to come in, because he was the _only_ thing that kept her tethered when shit went sideways-as it too often did aboard Snowpiercer.

“Come in,” she winced at how shaky her voice sounded, but when he entered her room he didn’t mention it.

“Hey,” he breathed gently, approaching her cautiously. She only realized she’d stopped burning a hole in the floor when she found him face to face with her, both of them standing still.

“Hey,” she choked out in response, and then a noise like a sob escaped before she could stop it.

“Come here,” he was still so _gentle_ when he wrapped his arm around her. She went willingly, letting him pull her to his chest and sinking into the comfort of it. She sighed, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears pricking at the corners of them.

“Do I have to do everything here?” she asked, and she could no longer stop the tears from falling, “It’s too much sometimes, Ben.”

“I know,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head as he ran a hand up and down her back, “I’ve got you, though.”

“I don’t think I’d be able to keep going if I didn’t have you,” Melanie admitted once the tears had finally subsided, “The only time I feel alive is when I’m with you.”

Bennett was silent for a while, considering how to respond. His grip on her didn’t loosen, and she was reassured that it was not hesitation that caused him to take his time. 

“If I can give you even a single _moment_ of peace…” he finally started, stopping and swallowing as he mustered up the courage to continue, “It’s enough for me. Things will never be easy, Mel. But _no one_ is as equipped to handle this as you are.”

“I wish I had your faith in me,” she snorted.

He gently pushed her back-keeping hands on her shoulders so that she couldn’t pull back completely-in order to make sure that she could see the seriousness on his face as he said, “It’s a no win situation, but you are doing the _best_ that you can. And I see that.”

She nodded, after a moment. She struggled to accept it for what it was; he understood inherently that she would have to wrestle with the statement, and did not put anything else on her. After a long moment Melanie sighed, a hand on his neck tugging him down to kiss her. He happily obliged, hands sliding down to her waist.

“Thank you,” she murmured, inches from his mouth.

“Any time, Mel,” Bennett replied, leaning back in to kiss her again.

It was nice, she mused, to have _one_ person in the mess of the world they lived in who she didn’t have to pretend in front of. Someone who she could kiss with her face a mess from crying, who would never judge her-but rather just be there and listen when she needed him to be. It had taken Bennett a while after they’d come to this point in their… relationship-whatever that was-to be so bold with her, but she liked it. She liked it a _lot_ , actually-one of his hands had taken her hair down and the other had pulled her flush against him.

Sometimes, his weight on top of her was the only thing that grounded her. 

But it was enough.


	29. Ruth, Rated T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: torture mentions
> 
> Ruth's thoughts whenever she has to take an arm.
> 
> Prompt: "back up!"

At first, it had bothered her. The idea of such brutality troubled Ruth. But the people in the tail had boarded illegally, and who was she to question Wilford’s decision on how to handle them? It had been an odd choice to even allow them to live-one she did not agree with, but again: who was she to question Wilford?

Melanie had stopped dealing with the tailies herself early on. She’d never said why; perhaps she was not as suited to brutality as Ruth was, even though she was always the bad cop when they’d had to wrestle some unruly first class passenger into submission over something as trivial as dessert.

“Back up!” Ruth shouted, wincing internally at the feedback screech from the microphone, “I said- _back up_!”

The tailies-for the most part-did as told. They glared at her, eyes full of burning hatred. Six and a half years in, and Ruth’s patience with them was _completely_ gone. She no longer questioned the cruelty of the punishments bestowed upon them. How _dare_ these people feel so entitled to Snowpiercer’s safe haven-to Wilford’s generosity, when they had boarded the train like bloody pirates?

The arm of a woman who’d tried to rush a brakeman-unhappy with the lack of food-shattered in the grate on the floor. The angry mutterings of the tailies sounded like the buzzing of wasps, but Ruth paid them no mind.

They were as insignificant as wasps, after all-and had it been her choice, she would have thrown the whole bloody lot of them outside then and there.

Luckily for the tailies, Mr. Wilford did not agree.

Who was Ruth to question his methods?


	30. Bennett/Melanie, Rated E

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: sex, smut
> 
> Bennett and Melanie are playful during sex.
> 
> Prompt: "just say it"

“Just say it,” Melanie murmured huskily as she leaned down to kiss Bennett. His grip on the bare flesh of her hips tightened at the change in angle. Her hair fell around both of their faces-a curtain obscuring everything but her as she pulled away by mere inches, biting her lip playfully to hide a smile that wanted to break free.

He didn’t bother to hide his own smile, raising his eyebrows at her, “We both know that I won’t.”

“Hm,” she pulled further back from him, her pace languid as she braced herself with a hand on his leg. She knew _exactly_ what she was doing; the view now afforded to him made it all the more difficult to remain obstinate.

“It’s going to take a lot more than _that_ to make me beg, Mel,” he told her, and fervently hoped that she didn’t realize just how much she’d shaken his resolve.

Of course she did, however; she smirked, moving in a way that had him swearing, “I can just sit here all day, you know. It’s comfortable.”

Bennett rolled his eyes, “You’d get bored.”

“Not with you,” she shook her head, unable to stop herself from leaning in to kiss him again.

He used her momentary distraction to his advantage. With a hand on her back and a hand on her waist, he rolled them so that Melanie was the one on her back. She broke the kiss with a gasp, eyes narrowing in annoyance. The sight made him chuckle a bit; she could never really intimidate him.

“Ben,” she growled, and then groaned at the way he undulated his hips, head tilting back against her will.

“Hm?” he was giving her a faux innocent look.

At her lack of response he kissed her neck, her jaw, behind her ear. He relished in the moans that she let out in response-though she was clearly doing her best to stifle them. To no avail, however; they increased in frequency as he increased his pace and continued kissing her neck.

“Oh, _fuck_ ,” she hissed when he bit her on the base of her neck, sucking hard enough to leave a mark, “Ben.”

“Yes, Mel?” he asked.

“Ass,” she muttered, playfully smacking his shoulder.

He grinned at her, “Are you asking if I like yours? Because I _definitely_ do.”

It took her a second, but then Melanie burst out laughing-it was what he’d intended. Bennett loved making her laugh when they had sex; it made it feel even more intimate, somehow. 

“Idiot,” she murmured when she’d calmed down, but she was smiling as she leaned up to kiss him.

He bumped her nose with his in between kisses, and pulled them both up so that she was in his lap, grinding down on him again.

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it,” he whispered, kissing her again. It was so soft that it almost _literally_ stole her breath away. She hadn’t fully understood the clichéd phrase until she’d started sleeping with Bennett-but she was glad that she did now.

“That is something I will neither confirm nor deny,” she replied playfully. He grazed his teeth over her shoulder in response to her deflection, pulling her in by the hips to hasten her pace.

Her rhythm was steady and faster than before-yet still almost unbearably slow. His mouth on her neck, her jaw, and her shoulder-the feel of their chests pressed together-and the position of their bodies was enough to bring her quickly to the edge. It was the way he murmured her name-desperate and a bit wild-into her neck and the way one of his hands moved to her ass to pull her closer that finally did it. Melanie’s back arched as she gasped her way through her orgasm, his hands steadying her so that she didn’t fall.

He hummed a little after she’d come back down to earth and asked, “Are you still going to make me beg?”

“No,” she shook her head, grinning goofily at him, “You’ve earned a pardon, I think.”

“Good,” Bennett smiled softly back.

There were no words spoken as he gripped her hips and pulled her down on him, over and over again. She let him set the pace, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as he fucked her. And then finally, his body went limp as he groaned his release into her neck. She pulled him closer as he pulsed inside of her, brushing a kiss to the side of his head where she could reach. He sighed, content.

After, they lay tangled together. Melanie lived for these little moments; brief as they were. These moments of respite and intimacy were what kept her going; it was a realization that she’d come to some time ago. Not that she’d admit it to Bennett, she mused. She glanced at the man in question. Half asleep, he was staring at their hands as she toyed with his. She traced the lines on his palm, the veins and knuckles on the back of it before pressing a gentle kiss there. A small smile tugged up one corner of his mouth. His other hand ran through her hair as she laced their fingers together, squeezing.

Her eyes closed, more relaxed than she had been in so long that she’d forgotten just how _good_ it felt. She didn’t have much time-an hour or two, _maybe_ , at most-but she was too tired to not spend that time asleep.

Bennett seemed to agree; he had already fallen asleep while she’d been lost in thought.

Melanie joined him surprisingly quickly. She basked in the comfort and _happiness_ of not needing words with him every time they’d finished having sex. 

The quiet moments-they were when she felt most alive.


	31. Bennett/Melanie, Rated G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: none
> 
> Bennett and Melanie in the early days.
> 
> Prompt: "I trust you"

The thing about Bennett that Melanie had discovered early on, was that he was a good listener. It was easy to talk to him; he never minded her using him as a sounding board. And if it was a train related matter, he’d often offer her an opinion-and take no offense if she chose to disregard it. Sometimes she’d stay up late talking to him until they lapsed into silence that was never uncomfortable; they simply had no more words to say-and they didn’t need them either.

It was something that had been nagging at the back of her mind for a while. They’d been aboard Snowpiercer almost six months now. It was just now that she’d managed to step back enough to realize there was a potential problem: what if the passengers demanded to speak to the now reclusive Mr. Wilford?

“Ben?” she asked, hesitantly. It was a new thing, calling him that; but he didn’t seem to mind, and it just flowed naturally out of her mouth. Besides, he called her Mel just as often; tit for tat was never a bad thing.

“Yes?” he answered, turning the chair at the helm around. He’d insisted on continuing his shift even though she’d woken up early enough to take over; she appreciated his attempts at trying to make her take care of herself-even if they always failed.

“If a passenger wants me to call Mr. Wilford,” she swallowed, “Would you be willing to answer the phone? I know that it’s a lot to ask, and that plausible deniability is a thing, but-”

“Of course, Mel,” he cut her off, smiling reassuringly, “I’m in the shit with you, you know.”

She nodded, exhaling, “Okay.”

“I trust you,” he admitted a few minutes later, breaking the silence that had descended.

Melanie looked closely at his face then for a moment, assessing the seriousness of the statement. Deciding that what she’d found there was genuine, she smiled a little and replied, “Thanks, Ben.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to try to sleep some more?” he switched topics, sensing that the conversation had gotten too heavy for her. Her shoulders sagged slightly in relief.

“Don’t think I could, even if I tried,” her smile became tight now.

“Alright then,” Bennett sighed, clearly upset by her answer-yet understanding it at the same time, “What do you want to talk about?”

They talked about everything and nothing, until the sun rose, and Melanie was forced to reluctantly prepare herself to become the head of hospitality again.

By the time she was dressed, Javi had joined Bennett in the engine. She greeted him absently, eyes meeting Bennett’s.

They conveyed a mutual understanding without words. 

Smiling a little, Melanie told him, “You have the train.”

He nodded in agreement, “I have the train.”

As she left, she hoped she’d get to talk to him again during her shift tonight-even just for a little while. It was perhaps selfish, given he hadn’t had time to sleep.

Nevertheless, she hoped for it. There was something comfortable about spending time with him that she couldn’t quite explain; nor was she ready to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this has been fun!! Thanks for sticking with me even when I was late. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Just going to put this generally: if you think something needs more warning or that my warning system where I warn in the tags/notes isn't enough please let me know. I will not be offended.


End file.
